The Diego Diaries: Return (dd8 462)
=0=Out there
The shuttles, fleets and more Seekers than had ever been sent on missions like this flew through the aperture. They flew into formations set by Rainmaker and Prowl as the groups continued to exit into their space.
The Triggers that had been built to replace those destroyed in the attack shortly ago were on station over The City again, both of them complete, improved and with faster response time than before, though cosmetic finishes were pending inside. An analysis of the tech that the group brought that attacked them had shown an energy rerouting that enhanced the speed by which they could be in a place in the blink of an optic. The Autobots could as well. That the Triggers would have gun emplacements to protect them now would also be a new feature.
They came and came, spreading out into formations that would manage the grid pattern that would be their process. Then behind them came metrotitans flying through to move slowly toward their spots, a portion of everyone there who would utilize them as a base and bring those in need for immediate care into their environs.
Prowl watched them, sending orders with the merest click of the buttons under his fingertips. He watched the screen before him forming into different phalanxes of ships and Seekers, all of them gathering to await their further orders. That would happen when all were in place.
"What about the prison ships, Prowl?" Delphi asked from nearby where he was going to run the transport of the Decepticons and troublemakers in their midst.
"Have them follow the titans, Delphi. I want them to stay with us and go out on call or receive prisoners here," Prowl replied as he considered the complex plan in his helm, one that was ever changing as information poured in.
"Understood," Delphi said. He turned back to his console. "Senior Commander Delphi to Warden Gee-Gee."
:Gee-Gee here, Delph: came the reply.
"Prowl wants you here in the command and control group to receive prisoners. Being close to the bridge will help keep mayhem down."
"Understood, Delphi. Let me know what's needed and its done. Gee-Gee out," she said as she sat at the hatch of Prison Ship #6, the Ark of Plenty it was facetiously called with an energy screen blocking out vacuum. She glanced at Winnie and her crew which included Roadbuster and Sandstorm. "We get to receive them and hurl them through the bridge." She grinned at her boys as they grinned at her.
It was unclear if she was serious or not.
=0=The Hourly News: Latest Breaking News!
"We've just received a bulletin from the Office of Strategic Communications. Senior Commander Jazz of Kaon who's with the fleet has informed us that the Auxiliary Titan Fleet from Cybertron has joined the mission at the migration point. Flare, Timbre, Songbird, a femme titan who's warrior class, Clash, Perdolia and Fife are on site to give a platform to the refugees who need extra help or who are from ships that cannot continue.
"All of our auxiliary fleets are there but for the Home Guard Martian battle group along with 5,000 Seekers of all classification. Battle shuttles armed and ready to approach the Decepticon ships in the body of the migration are there along with fighter carriers and cruisers. This is the most heavily armed group to face a migration yet in our history of The Return.
"Optimus Prime, his senior officers, a legion of Home Guardsmen and femmes in support positions, the entire Alpha and Beta rosters of the Army, Marines and Air Force are either there or joining them. The whirl at the three airfields in the the local area or are in Autobot City is massive as they gather to go. Aerie Hill is now on standby at their seventeen airfields now that the Seekers have left to join the battle group.
"The Port of Mars and Autobot City which is closed to anyone without clearance to be there is working hard to be ready to take information ahead of arrival of refugees, to have workers ready to take them to whatever destination is determined and to be as secure as possible has been working non-stop since this was announced. Jacx will be filing a report about progress there shortly. He'll also be speaking to the Master of the Muster at each base and at the main military airport in Aerie Hill.
"No one is allowed inside the security zones until further notice. All of the businesses downtown in The City as well as governmental buildings there are either shuttered for the duration or working as essential services. No schools are closed though the Temple Academy of Primus may if the need for priests and others becomes an issue.
"We're going to take a break so that the changes listed on the Community Bulletin Board can be scrolled for your information. When we come back we'll have a conversation with Senior Commander Paragon of Capital City who's in command of Ops Center here in the colony," Aleph said with his grave voice.
The scene cut to the board where the list of things closed had grown. Outside of his studio the roar of ships lifting off to go or settling down to be loaded before leaving continued on and on.
=0=On the way
:Where are you now?:
"We just got latched in on a shuttle going to dock on the other side with Xantium who's got the command post and Prime," Will Lennox said as he sat on a seat in the expansive travel case that humans used when going on missions. The atmosphere was good, the facilities better and all was well with all of them. "We're about to lift off, General."
Glenn Morshower who wanted to be with them sat in his meeting which was on break at the moment. Hooked in with Lennox by secured phone, he caught up. "I want to be there. Its about 90 degrees here."
"We're good to go here. The usual suspects," he said as he glanced at Epps and Graham. Beside them or sitting around the big box were Jackson Davis of the new soldier habitat, ten of his soldiers who were of varying ranks and nationalities, Jessie and James Spencer-Brooks who had married in a Praxian ceremony and one of their own last Valentine's Day, Owen Harris, Andre Boudin, Louis Richardson and two of the indicted men, surprisingly enough, Thomas Barnard of Australia and Damien Pare of Greece.
"We have a couple of the hot shots attending. Pare and Barnard. I guess Prime is playing chess at a level I can't detect," Lennox said quietly.
"Prime wouldn't allow it if they didn't have some purpose to serve." Morshower glanced to the side. "I have to go. Keep in touch. I want to know how they act under this kind of pressure."
"Will do, sir. Lennox out," Will said as he dialed off and put the phone in his pocket. He walked to a chair to sit and buckled in because the vessel had started to rise and would be on the other side in seconds. They disappeared into space almost immediately.
=0=Ratchet
He was sitting in the command ship with Prowl as he waited for the medical component to finally all arrive. Phobos was the main vessel but Purity and Hospitality, two former battleships were also here to do the same thing. Ratchet was in charge of the entire medical component including the nearly 75 vessels large and small who would be doing the heavy lifting.
They would have nearly 1,000 of the Seekers assigned to them to carry and facilitate whatever was needed until their guns were required elsewhere. Every doctor who could be here was. There would even be some of the medical mentor kids coming, level 2s only when things mellowed out and it was decided what was going on. That would probably take until the weekend for it to happen.
The buzz in the command center was brisk as the formations were organized, then it settled. One could almost hear the silence of the fleet as it waited to move.
"Open a channel, Blaster," Prime said as he composed himself.
"You're on, Optimus," Blaster said.
"I would like your attention please. This is Optimus Prime."
It would be remembered forever by everyone on every ship, Decepticon, Autobot or civilian, that the voice of their warrior-king was heard that moment in their deepest longing and despair. It would be a golden memory, the kind that changes everything and no one would ever forget it.
"We are here to rescue you from this migration but there are so many of you that you must have a bit more patience. We have great skill at moving mass migrations. We have had many millions show up at our door. But it takes organization and a bit more time to move you all to safety.
"We are going to be coming to you to find out your needs and meet them. While that is happening we will send you informational videos of your home on the other side of this bridge. We need to know if you are in serious need. When a worker-team arrives at your ship, let them in and try to answer all of their questions. The more we know about you the better we can help you.
"We also know that there are unknowns among you and also Decepticons. We want those individuals to check in with us so we can determine your status for going forward. If you come in peace with the hope of finding homes and safety among us, we welcome you. We have in our colony 17,500,000 plus former now civilian and still active duty military former Decepticons who are not only citizens but assets to all of us.
"If you come with the same intentions then all will be well. If not, then we have to decide what comes next. I just want you to understand that the priority for me is to save our helpless people. If you decide to make this more difficult for them, then I will personally tear you limb from limb. We will be messaging you privately. We expect you to answer truthfully so we can determine your status from that point forward. Prime out."
He sat back to consider the situation, then Prowl tapped his arm with a data pad. Prime took it, studied it, then considered the options before him. As he did, two mechs would be walking to the forward view port to fasten a box filled with humans into the slot built there just for them.
"Look what the rats dragged in," a deeply masculine voice was heard to say. "Lennox and the mangy crew, here at last."
Will Lennox grinned. :Hi, Xantium. Still a slagger I see:
Xantium Supreme laughed. "THAT'S ME! DON'T FORGET IT!"
The human soldiers from the new habitat stared at the speaker slots nearby. The voice was coming from there but it was clear to them that the ship they were on wasn't 'normal'. Earlier …
In a corner of the Ops Center in The Fortress, ten soldiers and Jackson 'Jack' Davis stared around the space with intense interest. They were inside the holy of holies, the Command Center of the Empire of the Autobots.
Lennox turned to them. :You understand the suit protocols?:
Everyone nodded.
:You're clear on the rules of going on missions? No one comes who's going to embarrass us: Will said adamantly.
Everyone nodded again.
When it was time to load up they were clear on all of it, the humans who were new and those who'd been here a while. It'd be a strange trip for all of them including a number of Harris's colleagues and two indicted human billionaires.
Here and now …
"How far from Earth do you suppose we are?" a female soldier from South Africa asked Epps.
Bobby considered that. "Far enough away that it'd take generation ships for us to even think of getting back, or our descendants, that is.
It was silent for a moment, then everyone burst into questions.
=0=TBC 6-24-2022 7-23-2022
For AMB. Forever.
ESL
facetious: (fuh-SEE-shus) funny, amusing. Something that's funny or a remark about how 'are you trying to be funny?'
a grave voice: one that's solemn, serious, very serious sounding
